Page 38 of The False Start (Off the Bench)

Chapter Twenty-Six

LILA

I waltz into Cornerside, winking at Ray who’s posted at the door, eager to get out of the chilly December air in my minimal clothing while feeling altogether too pleased with myself.

My red jersey blazes a path in the patchwork of football fans crowding the space.

I had the jersey from an old Halloween costume, and he is on my fantasy team, so my reasoning for wearing Travis Kelce’s jersey is totally sound.

Cal hasn’t been anything but a perfect gentleman since the other morning when he’d altered my brain chemistry with the way he fucked me.

I feel like I’m losing my mind thinking about it, and no matter what I do, I can’t replicate the orgasm he gave me.

The facade of my psyche is cracking, and I need him to lose his composure.

I need him just as feral as I am, and even Katie agreed this outfit would be the thing to crack him wide open, even if she laughed at me the entire time I was explaining my plan.

The warmth of success fills me when I catch sight of him at a table with our friends, his eyes bugging out slightly as they rake over my body, noting the oversized red jersey and thigh-high socks.

My short bike shorts are hidden beneath, but without belting it, the entire look appears much more risqué than I normally dress.

I’d even put my hair in low pigtails, with little red bows to match the jersey to complete the sexy cheerleader look I’m going for.

I hesitate for only a moment, before turning toward the bar, giving him a view of the name on my back.

I’ve just ordered a seltzer when I feel someone at my back, their all too familiar hands on either side of me at the bar, caging me in.

“Really?” he growls in my ear.

I ignore him, staring straight ahead as I collect my drink from the bartender.

I turn to face him, but he doesn’t move, effectively putting our faces only a hair’s breadth apart.

“Oh, hey Cal.” I smirk.

“What are you wearing?”

“I just thought I’d support my fantasy players today.

” I shrug. “It’s not a big deal.” I tap his arm, and he drops it from the bar, letting me side-step him as I make my way back to the table where Theo and Katie are already sitting with a large man who looks vaguely familiar.

He’s as tall as Cal, and if anything, broader through the torso, with dark hair and ice blue eyes that send a shiver down my spine.

I vaguely remember him from the fiasco of a party at Cal’s a few weeks ago.

“Lila, you made it,” calls Katie, waving me over. “You remember Axel?”

I smile at him and hold out my hand. “Of course, I’m Lila.” He shakes it.

“So, how did you and Katie meet? Just at Cal’s party?” I ask, taking a seat at the large round booth next to Theo, leaving Cal to slide in next to me on the end. He snorts at the mention of his party.

“Theo introduced us,” Katie babbles happily.

“Speaking of introductions,” the devil himself interjects.

“I could introduce you to Kelce if you want, Lila. We usually cross paths a couple times a year during promos.” He’s grinning like he’s auditioning for Alice in Wonderland .

One glance to Cal on my left, and I can barely suppress my own smirk.

“Theo, that’d be amazing ,” I gush. I can almost hear Cal’s molars grinding together.

The first half of the game sitting next to Cal is torture. Every brush of our arms sets me aflame, and when he grips my knee under the table during a particularly tense play, a torrent of butterflies erupts in my gut that cause me to entirely miss the pick six scored by the Baltimore.

Finally, I can’t take it anymore, and I excuse myself to the restroom down the back hallway. I walk slowly, catching Cal’s eye just before I turn the corner. The ladies’ room is empty to my relief, and I quickly remove the bike shorts and wait at the sinks, fluffing my hair.

The time ticks by, and I’m losing my confidence. I’ve almost given up when the door to the bathroom opens and shuts quietly. I glance up, but don’t see anyone. A moment later the door slams open.

“What are you playing at?” Cal asks darkly, stalking into the bathroom. I smirk into the mirror, meeting his gaze and adjust one of the bows in my hair.

“I have no idea what you mean, I just wanted to fix my hair.”

He flips the deadbolt on the bathroom door and my stomach turns over. He walks toward me with purpose, and I wet my suddenly dry lips, his eyes tracking the movement and darkening to a stormy grey.

He fists the hem of the jersey when he reaches me, spinning me around to face him.

“Don’t play coy.” His voice is raspy, and my knees shake slightly at the tone.

I open my mouth to retort when his other hand cups my jaw, his thumb crossing my chin spanning the width of my throat.

“You know exactly what you’re doing, love.

” He drops a kiss to my pulse point at the juncture of my neck and collarbone. “Don’t you?”

The “no” I mean to say comes out as a sort of keen. One I’d be embarrassed by if this hulking specimen of a man hadn’t already coaxed my body into reactions that would have even Katie clutching her pearls. He smirks against my skin, his knee knocking mine to the side to press between my legs.

“It’s bad enough that I know you start him in your insane fantasy league over me every week,” he mutters, twirling his wrist in the fabric, tightening it across my frame.

He pushes his thumb into my hip bone, guiding my body up onto the counter.

“But you dance around in his jersey now?” He steps into the space between my legs.

“I’m not—” I start, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

He cuts me off, hand tightening around my throat. Heat floods my core, a swooping in my lower abdomen causing my synapses to misfire momentarily.

“We both know you are.” He lets go of the jersey, running a long finger up my center, feeling the dampness that gives me away.

He groans in my ear, reattaching his mouth to the space just above my pulse point.

His thumb finds my clit, already swollen with desire, and I mew, careening my upper body toward him.

He chuckles darkly. “So wet for me.” He slides one finger into me, tearing through a hole in the lace of my thong.

“Is this all for me?” His teeth bite into the skin above my collarbone, and I grunt, the only sound I’m capable of making as a second finger joins the first, curling inside me and making me see stars.

“Lila,” he purrs darkly, “who’s making you feel good like this?”

“You,” I pant between strokes of his fingers.

“Right, me. And who does this pretty, little cunt belong to?”

His words cause something to break within me, the headiness overwhelming all my stimulation receptors.

“Lila. Tell me who, or I’ll stop.” His fingers pause their ministrations but stay inside me, and I whine.

“You, it’s all for you,” I whine. “Please, Cal, please. ”

“Yes. Me, darling,” he purrs, before pulling away.

“Wha—”

“Take it off.” I blink at him, disoriented.

“Take off the jersey. Now .” He growls the last word, and the feral command in his voice has me shrugging out of the jersey, leaving me in a red lace bra and a matching ripped thong.

“Do you want to come, Lila?”

I nod, and he pulls his cock out from his jeans, before spreading the jersey on the floor at his feet.

“Suck.”

I drop to my knees on the jersey, sparing a brief moment to be grateful for the thoughtfulness, and reach for him. He catches my hand, holding it above my head as his other hand threads itself through my hair and guides my head toward him.

I take him in my mouth and try to breathe around him even as it nudges the back of my throat.

He’s thick, and my lips stretch wide, saliva pooling as I work to swallow around him.

I try to keep a steady rhythm, swallowing him deep in my throat as his thrusts become more erratic, eventually giving up and letting him fuck my face, just enjoying him coming undone when he finally pulls out of my mouth, pulling my hair back so I’m forced to look up at him. His eyes are wild, pupils blown wild.

“If you don’t want me to fuck you, tell me now.” I stare back at him and run my nails over his thighs in response. He pulls me up to standing roughly.

He backs me up to the counter and pulls a foil packet from his wallet.

“No,” I blurt out. “My test results came back clean.” The idea of nothing needing to be between us makes my heart race.

“I’m fine without one if you are.” His gaze heats further as he shoves it into his back pocket and lifts one leg into the crook of this elbow, sliding my panties to the side before sinking into me. The exquisite stretch has me crying out before he silences me, slamming his mouth on mine.

“Don’t forget where we are,” he warns. He gives me a moment to adjust to the fullness of his cock, before setting a punishing pace.

I’m so turned on that I’m close after only a few minutes.

Cal must feel me winding up because he brings his thumb to my clit, making tiny circles while whispering praises in my ear.

His nail scrapes the swollen bud, and I shatter around him, his other hand clamping down over my mouth to silence my moans. He fucks me through my orgasm, but as soon as I come back down to reality, he sets my leg back on the floor.

I look at him confused. “Turn around.”

He spins me to face the mirror over the sink, pulling my hips back toward him, effectively bending me over the counter. A ripping sound signals the end of my already tattered thong, but he winks at me in the mirror as he stuffs it into the front pocket of his jeans.